November 20, 2014
“Then all of a sudden Polaroid was gone and it was like, ‘oh my gosh, I miss it. I want it back” said President of the New Orleans Photo Alliance Thom Bennett.
When digital photography started to take over, many thought the Polaroid was dead, but New Orleans is proving that’s not the case.
“New Orleans is really getting on the cutting edge of what’s going on in contemporary photography” said Bennett.
Experts around the city have different theories about the resurgence.
“I think the Polaroid film technology is part of the push back against the digitization of photography. It just goes back to the basics of loving to see that image form in front of your eyes and it goes back to the basics of just loving to see that image form in front of your eyes” said Curator of Photography at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art Richard McCabe.
McCabe explains why he wanted to have a Polaroid exhibit.
“I just think that the Polaroid has always been thought of as a lesser form of photography, so I wanted to show that in the right hands that a Polaroid print, a Polaroid photograph could be as beautiful as any other type of photograph” said McCabe.
Overall, people in New Orleans are excited to see what’s going to come next.
Gallery Manager for the New Orleans Photo Alliance Della Viator said, “I’m really curious about how people are going to push the boundaries of the medium.”
Sara Feldman 